Red Sonja update

It’s been a year since we heard Rose McGowan would slip into the skimpy chainmail of flame-haired warrior RED SONJA, but things have been silent on the Robert Rodriguez-produced project for a while.

She’s apparently still on her way, but exec producer Joe Gatta explains her absence to Empire magazine (via Coventry Telegraph): “Because of certain issues and the economy, we had to change our plan a bit. It’s frustrating because we thought we’d make the movie last year, before CONAN.”

Gatta (who is also behind the barbarian’s reboot) does believe that SONJA will start hacking through spools of film (or hard drives) next year, and confirms it will be an origin story. Rodriguez protege Douglas Aarniokoski is directing.

The movie is based on CONAN creator Robert E. Howard’s mythical busty sword-swinger made famous in Marvel Comics and recent books from Dynamite. The story will follow Sonja’s transformation from a victim of savagery to the “Red Goddess’ Blade of Justice”. She teams with mischievous childhood friend Cyrus and mentor Ozzyus to slice her way through the forces of evil Kulan Gath and exact revenge for the brutal slaying of her family.